Let’s Look at the Liver

It usually doesn’t receive much attention, but your liver is essential to life — if it stops, so do you. Resilient and hardworking, this organ is easy to ignore until something goes wrong. Although it is a complex chemical factory that processes everything you breathe, drink or eat, most of us don’t really know much about it. So, we dedicate this article to sending the liver some love and getting to know it a little better.

You can think of your liver as…

Your power source. Helping to digest food and convert all those proteins, fats, and carbohydrates into the energy that keeps you going

Your engine.  Driving many of your body’s critical systems

Your pharmacist. Processing all medications, vitamins and herbal remedies to make them work effectively in your body

Weighing in at over a kilogram, it is your biggest internal organ and the world’s most efficient factory, performing about 500 functions that are vital to your health including:

• • Cleansing and detoxification — all alcohol, drugs, chemicals and poisonous substances are neutralized or broken down here

• • Regulating your body fuel — by producing, storing and supplying energy (in the form of glucose and fat)

• • Balancing hormones — from thyroid, cortisone and other adrenal hormones, your liver is on it

• • Manufacturing essential proteins — like the ones involved in blood flow, infection resistance and clotting the blood

• • Regulating supply of vitamins and minerals — such as iron and copper

• Producing bile — to eliminate toxic substances from your body and help digestion

Clearly the liver is quite precious, and kind of the unsung hero of the body. For it to take care of your body it must be able to perform optimally, so it is important that you understand how to maintain its wellbeing. The liver is a detoxification organ and works well on its own, so extreme liver cleanses typically aren’t necessary.  Generally, taking care of your overall health also means that you are taking care of your liver but there are some things you can do to protect your liver against disease and help support it.

Limit your alcohol intake: alcohol is a toxin and your liver is responsible for filtering it out of your blood.  But it can only handle so much at once; excessive amounts of alcoholic drinks can cause the liver to work overtime. The consequences of this over an extended period can be a build-up of fat deposits, inflammation or even permanent scarring of the liver. Also make sure never to mix medications (including over-the-counter painkillers) while drinking, as it adds even more that the liver must handle.

Vaccination: hepatitis is a liver disease caused by a virus. Hepatitis types A and B have vaccines that protect you from exposure; make sure to get immunized especially if you are travelling somewhere with a higher risk of infection.

Maintain a healthy weight: your liver deals with everything you eat and drink, every day. Be aware of what you’re eating and your weight and understand that too much fat or sugar can also cause a build-up of fat in this important organ, preventing it from performing its plentiful duties.

Chemicals at home: the liver also metabolizes all the chemicals that you inhale or come into physical contact with. Protect yourself when using chemical cleaners, insect sprays and paint to take some of the load off the liver.

Herbal Remedies: milk thistle, a superb detoxifying herb, can help support liver functions. Turmeric is also great for supporting liver metabolism and building healthy tissue. Finally, dandelion root, packed with minerals and proteins, has a natural diuretic effect and helps your liver eliminate toxins.

Bottom Line:

The liver plays many critical roles in maintaining your overall health, but it can work so well that it is easy to take for granted. By learning more about your liver and how you can keep it healthy, you may actually help reduce your risk of developing not only liver disease but also other health conditions including diabetes and heart disease. Love your liver.